His smile straightens out; he takes Cullen's hand, gives it a squeeze. "Sounds wonderful," he murmurs.

The aggressive steering toward any and all distractions may be rather blatant, but definitely not unwelcome. It's not like Alistair wants to continue having fits over Fiona's pending arrival.

Maybe they'll get lucky and Cousland will turn up first. A nice buffer against their other guest. Another distraction.

He holds Cullen's hand through the remainder of the meal. There isn't much left by then; in short order it's time to test the new pump.